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FORUM: General Conference IV (Culture)

ISSUE: The protection of the rare animal species under threat in Galapagos Islands:

the initial point of the Darwinian theory of Natural Selection

Background Information:

The Galapagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the

equator in the Pacific Ocean, 972 km west of continental Ecuador. The archipelago

encompasses over 50 islands of volcanic origin that are spread out over an area of

about 4,500 square kilometers. Volcanic eruptions still occur in this region. Its most

notable feature is its unique wildlife. Galapagos Islands make up one of the most

remarkable oceanic ecosystems in the world. The distinctiveness of Galapagos

wildlife contributed to Darwin's formulation of the theory of evolution by natural

selection.

The islands are also known to be the “initial point of the Darwinian Theory of Natural

Selection”. So in other words, these islands are famed for their vast number of

endemic species which were studied by Charles Darwin, the first geologist to explore

the exceptional biota of these islands. And Darwin was especially struck by the

“differences between the inhabitants of the different islands” he wrote while he was

on The Voyage on the Beagle.

The islands are considered to be the natural habitat for many different species, and

contain a large variety of different types of animals. From penguins to tortoises, the

islands have the optimum conditions to host a large variety of “rare” species. And yet,

it is extremely vulnerable to oil spills.

Another problem is the Earth’s climate change due to greenhouse gasses. Most eggs

are cracking too early as a large amount of animals are no longer healthy due to the

alarming reduction of food in the islands.

Related Countries:

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The EU for example, has some of the highest environment standards in the world,

developed over decades to address a wide range of issues. Today the main priorities

are combating climate change, preserving biodiversity, and reducing health problems

from pollution and using natural resources more responsibly.

“Our focus is to ensure that there is a strong science and policy basis for our

environmental policy, to move the nation to greater reliance on clean energy and

increase energy security, to combat global warming while growing the green

economy, to protect public health and the environment, especially in vulnerable

communities, and to protect and restore our great ecosystems.”

– Chair Nancy Sutley

“Environmental protection will be one of the four priorities of the French Presidency of

the European Union, which begins on July 1, 2008. The challenge will be ensuring

the protection of the environment while supporting the continent’s continued

economic wellbeing. It is for this reason that the European Union’s environmental

policy will increasingly rely on the belief that the implementation of high

environmental standards will stimulate innovation and business opportunities.”

Possible Solutions:

First of all, some regulations or laws could be proposed to the Security Council on the

routes of the oil tankers to prevent further problems. However, these newly designed

routes should not be the reason for additional problems. If these laws are to cause

economical problems, then some member states will not vote for the acceptance of

such regulations. Also, voluntary workers could aid some of the problems that

employees are facing such as the oil spills. Many NGO’s are designing campaigns

and as always, they need funding.

UN Involvement:

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Acknowledging the risk of oil reaching the fragile ecosystems of the Galápagos

Islands chain, a UNESCO World Heritage site, spurred the government of Ecuador to

explore environmentally friendly power sources.

“The government partnered with the UN Foundation, the UN Development Program,

and eight of the world’s largest utilities, including American Electric Power, to develop

an innovative renewable energy project that would cut diesel imports by half to the

Galápagos.

The San Cristobál Galápagos Wind project was finalized in 2008 with the dedication

of a 2.4 megawatt wind farm that is also generating “certified emission reductions”

under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism. The project is part of the

government of Ecuador’s larger plan to wean all of the Galápagos Islands off of fossil

fuels by 2015.”

Maps and Graphs:

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Useful Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_Islands

http://www.galapagos.org/2008/

http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/GalapagosWWW/Darwin.html

http://www.discovergalapagos.com/archipel.html

http://www.galapagos.org/2008/index.php?id=234

http://www.stlzoo.org/wildcareinstitute/avianhealthinthegalapagosi.htm

http://www.unfoundation.org/our-impact/new-energy-future/index.jsp?page=4

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Works Cited:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_Islands

http://www.galapagos.org/2008/

http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/GalapagosWWW/Darwin.html

http://www.discovergalapagos.com/archipel.html

http://www.galapagos.org/2008/index.php?id=234

http://www.consulfrance-atlanta.org/spip.php?article1405

http://europa.eu/pol/env/index_en.htm

http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_policy_of_the_United_States

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/postpn212.pdf

http://www.unfoundation.org/our-impact/new-energy-future/index.jsp?page=4

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Issue:

Forum: General Conference IV

I) Background Information

A) Colonization in South Africa

1) European expeditions

Firstly, the history of South Africa is marked by immigration and ethnic conflict.

The Khoisan people are the aboriginal people of the region who have lived there for

millennia. Black South Africans are believed to originate from the Great Lakes region

of Africa in prehistoric times. White South Africans, descendants of later European

migrations, regard themselves equally as products of South Africa, as do South

Africa’s Coloreds, Indians, Asians, and Jews.

Although the Portuguese basked in the nautical

achievement of successfully navigating the cape,

they showed little interest in colonization. The

area’s fierce weather and rocky shoreline posed

a threat to their ships, and many of their attempts

to trade with the local Khoikhoi ended in conflict.

The Portuguese found the Mozambican coast

more attractive, with appealing bays to use as

way stations, prawns, and links to gold ore in the

interior.

The Portuguese had little competition in the region until the late 16th century,

when the English and Dutch began to challenge the Portuguese along their trade

routes. Stops at the continent’s southern tip increased, and the cape became a

regular stopover for scurvy-ridden crews. In 1647, a Dutch vessel was wrecked in the

present day Table Bay at Cape Town. The marooned crew, the first Europeans to

attempt settlement in the area, built a fort and stayed for a year until they were

rescued.

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2)Arrival of the Dutch

Shortly thereafter, the Dutch East India Company( in Dutch: Vereenigde

Oostindiscge Compagnie, or VOC) decided to establish a permanent settlement.

The VOC, one of the major European trading houses sailing the spice route to the

East , had no intention of colonizing the area, instead wanting only to establish a

secure base camp where passing ships could shelter, and where hungry sailors

could stock up on fresh supplies of meat, fruit and vegetables. To this end, a small

VOC expedition under the command of Jan van Riebeeck reached Table Bay on 6

April, 1652.

While the new settlement traded out of necessity with the neighboring

Khoikhoi, it was not a friendly relationship, and the company authorities made

deliberate attempts to restrict contact. Partly as a consequence, VOC employers

found themselves faced with a labour storage. To remedy this, they released a small

number of Dutch from their contracts and permitted them to establish farms, with

which they would supply the VOC settlement from their harvests. This arrangement

proved highly successful, producing abundant supplies of fruit, vegetables, wheat,

and wine: they also later raised livestock. The small initial group of free burghers, as

these farmers were known, steadily increased in number and began to expend their

farms further north and east into the territory of the Khoikhoi.

The majority if burghers had Dutch ancestry and belonged to the Calvinist Reformed

Church of the Netherlands, but there were

also numerous Germans as well as some

Scandinavians. In 1688, French

Huguenots, also Calvinists, who were

fleeing religious persecution in France

under King Louis XIV, joined the Dutch

and the Germans.

In addition to establishing the free burgher

system, van Riebeeck and the VOC also began to

import large numbers of slaves, primarily from

Madagascar and Indonesia. These slaves often married Dutch settlers, and their

descendants became known as the Cape Coloureds and the Cape Malays. A

Bartolomeu  Dias  rounding  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  

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significant number of the offspring fro the White and slave unions were absorbed into

the local proto-Afrikaans speaking White population. With this additional labor, the

areas occupied by the VOC expanded further to the north and east, with inevitable

clashes wit the Khoikhoi. The newcomers drove the Khoikhoi from their traditional

lands, decimated them with introduced diseases, and destroyed them with superior

weapons when they fought back, which they did in a number of major wars and with

guerilla resistance movements that continued into the 19th century. Most survivors

were left with no option but to for the Europeans in an exploitative arrangement that

differed little from slavery. Over time, the Khoisa, their European overseers, and the

imported slaves mixed, with the offspring of these unions forming the basis for

today’s Colored population.

The best-known Khoikhoi groups included the Griqua, who had originally lived in the

western coast between St Helena Bay and the Cederberg Range. In the late 18th

century, the managed to acquire guns and horses and began trekking north-east. En

route, other groups of Khoisan, Coloreds, and even white adventures joined them,

and they rapidly gained a reputation as a formidable military force. Ultimately, the

Griquas reached the Highveld around present –day Kimberley, where they carved

out territory that came to be known as Griqualandalina.

3)Burgher expansion

As the burghers, too, continued to expand into the rugged hinterlands of the north

and east, many began to take up a semi-nomadic pastoralist lifestyle, in some ways

not far removed from that of the Khoikhoi the displaced. In addition to its herds, a

family might have a wagon, a tent, a Bible, and a few guns. As they became more

settled, they would build a mud-walled cottage, frequently located, by choice, days of

travel from the nearest European settlement. These were the first of the Trekboers

(Wandering Farmers, later shortened to Boers), completely independent of official

controls, extraordinarily self-sufficient, and isolated. Their harsh lifestyle produced

individualists who were well acquainted with the land. Like many pioneers with

Christian backgrounds, the burghers attempted to live their lives based on teachings

from the Bible.

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4) British at the Cape

As the 18th century drew to a close, Dutch mercantile power began to fade and the

British moved in to fill the vacuum. They seized the Cape in 1795 to prevent it from

failing into the hands of Napoleonic France, then briefly relinquished it back to the

Dutch (1803), before definitively conquering it in 1806. British sovereignty of the area

was recognized at the congress of Vienna in 1815.

At the tip of the continent the British found an established colony with 25,000 slaves,

20,000 white colonists, 15,000 Khoisan, and 1,000 freed black slaves. Power resided

solely with a white élite in Cape Town, and differentiation on the basis of the race

was deeply entrenched. Outside Cape Town and the immediate hinterland, isolated

black and white pastoralists populated the country.

Like the Dutch before them, the British initially had little interest in the Cape Colony,

other than as a strategically located port. As one of their first tasks they tried to

resolve a troublesome border dispute between the Boers and the Xhosa on the

colony’s eastern frontier. In 1820 the British authorities persuaded about 5,000

middle –class British immigrants (most of them “in trade”) to leave Great Britain

behind and settle on tracts of land between the feuding groups with the idea of

providing a buffer zone. The plan was singularly unsuccessful. Within three years,

almost half of these 1820 Settlers had retreated to the towns, notably Grahamstown

and Port Elzabeth, to pursue the jobs they had held in Britain.

While doing nothing to resolve the border dispute, this influx of settlers solidified the

British presence in the area, thus fracturing the relative unity of white South Africa.

Where the Boers and their ideas had before gone largely unchallenged, white South

Africa now had teo distinct language groups and two distinct cultures. A pettern soon

emerged whereby English-speakers became highly urbanized, and dominated

politics, trade, finance, mining, and manufacturing, while the largely uneducated

Boers were relegated to their farms.

The gab between the British settlers and the Boers further widened with the abolition

of slavery in 1834, a move that the Boers generally regarded as against the God-

given ordering of the races. Yet the British settlers’ conservatism stopped any radical

social reforms, and in 1841 the authorities passed a Masters and Servants

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Ordinance, which perpetuated white control. Meanwhile, numbers of British

immigrants increased rapidly in Cape Town, in the area east of the Cape Colony

(present-day Eastern Cape Province), in Natal. The discovery of diamonds at

Kimberley and the subsequent discovery of gold in parts if the Transvaal, mainly

around present-day Gauteng led to a rapid increase in immigration of fortune seekers

from all parts of the globe, including Africa itself.

5) British, Boers and Zulus

The Great Trek first halted at Thaba Nchu, near present-day Bloemfontein, where the

trekkers established a republic. Following disagreements among their leadership, the

various Voortrekker groups split apart. While some headed north, most crossed the

Drakensberg into Natal wit the idea of establishing a republic there.

Since the Zulus controlled this territory, the Voortekker leader, accompanied by about

70 men of his Trek- Boer community, Piet Retief paid a visit to King Dingane

kaSenzangakhona. Dingane promised them land in payment for favour. The

Batlokwa people, under chief Sekonyela had stolen cattle from hi and he wanted it

back. Retief went to them and retrieved the cattle. After receiving the specified cattle,

Dingane invited Retief and his men into his kraal, where they were given all the land

between the iZimvubu and Tugela Rivers up to the Drakensberg. The treaty between

the two men currently sits in a museum in the Netherlands. As a celebration, Dingane

invited Retief and all his mento come and drink uTshwala (traditional Zulu Beer) in his

kraal. Also including with the offer guns and money. While drinking and being

entertained by Zulu dancers, Dingane cried out “Bulalani abathakathi” (Kill the

wizards). Dingane’s men, having taken Retief’s men by surprise, dragged the men to

a hill Hloma Mabuto; they were all killed, leaving Retief for last so that he could

watch. One proposed reason for their killing is that, for some reason, they had

withheld some of the recovered cattle.

After the massacre, the impis went back to the encampment where Retief and his

fellow farmers had left their wives, children and livestock. Taken by surprise, the

women, children and remaining farmers were also killed at the site called “Weenen”,

but not without retribution, they themselves managed to stop the initial onslaught and

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managed to get away, without mant of their guns and animals. A missionary, Rev.

Owen, had seen this entire take place and approached Dingane in order to give the

dead on appropriate burial. While te reverend and a heloer of his were burying the

dead and reading them their last rights, they happened to come across Retief’s

rucksack, still containing the treaty and a few personal belongings.

At the Battle of Italia, a Boer army’s attempt at revenge failed miserably. The

culmination came on 16 December 1838, at the Ncome River in Natal. The Boers

established a defensive enclosure or laager before the Zulu attack. Though only

three Boers suffered injuries, they killed about three thousand Zulu warriors using

three cannons and an elephant gun (along with other weapons) to their advantage in

this massive slaughter that in the 1920s became a South African holiday. So much

bloodshed reportedly caused the Ncome’s waters to run red, thus the clash is

historically known as the Battle of Blood River.

The Voortrekkers, victorious despite their numbers, saw their victory as an affirmation

of divine approval. Yet their hopes for establishing a Natal republic remained short

lived. The British annexed the area in 1843, and founded their Natal colony at

present-day Durban. Most of the Boers. Feeling increasingly squeezed between the

British on one side and the native African populations on the other, headed north.

The British set about establishing large sugar plantations in Natal. But found few

inhabitants of the neighboring Zulu areas willing to provide labor. The British

confronted stiff resistance to their encroachments from the Zulus, a nation with well-

established traditions of

waging war. Who inflicted

one of the most

humiliating defeats on the

British army at the Battle

of Isandlwana in

1879,where over 1400

British soldiers were killed.                                                    Zulu  warriors,  late  19th  century  

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During the ongoing Anglo-Zulu Wars, the British eventually established their control

over what was then named Zululand, and is today known as KwaZulu-Natal Province.

The British turned to India to resolve their labor shortage, as Zulu men refused to

adopt the

servile position of laborers and in 1860 the SS Truro arrived in Durban harbor with

over 300 people on board. Over the next 50 years, 150,000 more indentured Indians

arrived, as well as numerous free “passenger Indians”, building the base for what

would become the largest Indian community outside of India. As early as 1893, when

Mahatma Gandhi arrived in Durban, Indians outnumbered whites in Natal.

B) Culture of South Africa

There is no single culture of South Africa. As South Africa is so ethnically

diverse, it is not surprising that there are vast cultural differences as well.

1) Main Cultural differences

Because of the legacy of apartheid segregation, many cultural differences

correspond closely to the racial groups defined by Apartheid (Blacks, Whites,

Coloureds, Asians). This may charge as assimilation progresses, although many

cultural differences between Apartheid-defined racial groups persist.

1.1Black people

The country’s black majority still has a substantial number of rural inhabitans who

had largely impoverished and simple lives. However, blacks are increasingly

urbanized and westernized, and usually speak English or Afrikaans in addition to

their native tongue, which may be one of nine Bantu languages with official status

since 1994. These include Nguni languages, Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi, and

the Sotho languages, which include Tswana, Sotho and Northern Sotho. Cultural

differences between speakers from the two language groups are comparable to

those between speakers of German and Italian.

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The Venda language is quite different to the foregoing and has its origins in

Zimbabwe.

The Tsonga language is also unique, although in some instances are Nguni

influences. It is sometimes called Shaangaan, although many speakers of the

language find this term unacceptable. The name Shangaan can be traced to the Zulu

chief Soshangane who subjugated many clans in the 19th century, but communities

who stem from clans that were never subjugated do not accept this name.

Linguistically the languages are similar but culturally there is a difference between

the vaTsonga and maSharigana people and the xiTsonga and xiShangana

languages.

Many urban blacks speak several indigenous languages.

Most of the Christian with membership of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches

being strong as is membership of the predominantly black Zion Christian Church,

although many still follow traditional beliefs, many often consulting a sangoma. There

is a vibrant indigenous culture, with local popular music forms, such as kwaito, locally

mixed house white black South African musicians such as Ladysmith Black

Mamboza, Mahotella Queens, Miriam Makeba, and Hugh Maskela are well known

internationally.

1.2 White People

The white minority leas lifestyles similar in many respects to whites found in

Europe, North America and Australasia, with sport being immensely popular. The

braai (short of braaivleis or barbecue) is another national pastime, epitomized by an

old advertising slogan for Chevrolet cars in the 1960s: Braaivleis, rugby, sunny skies

and Chevrolet. The two main white cultural groups are the Afrikaners (about 60% of

the whites) and the English speaking Whites (40%).

Religious beliefs area also strong, with mist Afrikaners adhering to the Dutch

Reformed Church. Most English-speaking whites are either Anglican or Roman

Catholic. Perhaps 90,000 whites are Jewish, with a similar number of being of

Portuguese origin. There are also some Italians, Greeks and Christian Lebanese.

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1.3 Colored (Mixed-Race) people

The mixed-race Coloureds are, culturally speaking, much closer to whites, especially

Afrikaans speakers, whose language and religious beliefs they share, than they are

to black South Africans, despite suffering considerable discrimination under

apartheid. A small minority of Coloureds, known as Cape Malays is Muslim. Well

known members of the community include Sprinboks rugby union players Chester

Williams, Breyton Paulse and Bryan Habana, and jazz musicians Jonathan Butler

and Abdullah Ibrahim.

1.4 Asian People

Asians, (predominantly Indian origin) preserve their own cultural heritage, languages

and religious beliefs, being predominantly Christian, Hindu or Muslim, and speaking

English, with Indian languages like Tamil, Hindi, Telugu or Gujarati being spoken less

frequently due to influx of immigrants from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Protection of Cultural Rights

The rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities are protected in the

constitution by the Commission for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of

Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities. This is a chapter 9 Institution that

was created by the constitution.

C) Colonization in Zimbabwe

In the 1980s, the British arrived with Cecil

Rhode’s British South Africa Company. In 1898,

the name Southern Rhodesia was adopted. In

1888, British colonialist Cecil Rhodes obtained a

concession for mining rights from King Lobengula

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of the Ndebele peoples. Cecil Rhodes presented this concession to persuade the

government of the United Kingdom to grant a royal charter to his British South Africa

Company (BSAC) over Matabeleland, ant its subject states such as Mashonland.

Rhodes sought permission to negotiate similar concessions covering all territory

between the Limpopo River and Lake Tanganyka, tehn known as ‘Zmbesia’. In

accordance with the terms of aforementioned concessions and treaties, Cecil Rhodes

promoted the colonization of the region’s land, with British control over labor as well

as precious metals and other mineral resources. In 1895 the BSAC adopted the

name ‘Rhodesia’ for the territory of Zambesia, in honor of Cecil Rhodes. In 1898

‘Southern Rhodesia’ became the official denotation for the region south of the

Zambezi, which later became Zimbabwe. The region to the north was administrated

separately by the BSAC and later indigenous peoples.

Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing British colony in October 1923,

subsequent to a 1922 referendum. Rhodesians served on behalf of the United

Kingdom during World War II, mainly in the East African Campaign against Axis

forces in Italian East Africa.

In 1953, in the face of African opposition, Britain consolidated the two colonies of

Rhodesia with Nyasaland (now Malawi) in the ill-fated Federation if Rhodesia and

Nyasaland which was dominated by Southern Rhodesia. Growing African nationalism

and general dissent, particularly in Nyasaland, admonished Britain to dissolve the

Union in 1963, forming three colonies. As colonial rule was ending throughout the

continent and as African-majority governments assumed control in neighboring

Northern Rhodesia and in Nyasaland, the white-minority Rhodesia government led

by Ian Smith made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from the United

Kingdom on 11 November 1965. The United Kingdom deemed this an act of

rebellion, but did not re-establish control by force. The white-minority government

declared itself a “republic” in 1970. A civil war ensued, with Joshua Nkomo’s ZAPU

and Robert Mugabe’s Southern Rhodesia dropped the designation ‘Southern’, and

claimed nation status as the Republic of Rhodesia in 1970.

Language

Shona, Ndebele and English are the principal languages of Zimbabwe. Despite

English being the official language, less than 2.5%, mainly the white and Colored

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minorities consider it their native languages. The rest of the population speak Bantu

languages such as Shona (76%), Ndebele (18%) and the other minority languages of

Venda, Tonga, Shangaan, Kalanga, Sotho, Ndau and Nambya. Shona hasa rich oral

tradition, which as incorporated into the first Shona novel, Feso by Solomin

Mutswairo, published in 1956. English is spoken primarily in the cities, but less in

rural areas. Radio and television news is now broadcast in Shona, Ndbele and

English.

Culture

Zimbabwe has many different cultures which may include beliefs and ceremonies,

one of them being Shona. Zimbabwe’s largest ethnic group is Shona. The Shona

people have many sculptures and carvings of gods (idols) that are made with the

finest materials available.

Zimbabwe first celebrated its independence on 18 April 1980. Celebrations are held

at either the National Sports Stadium or Rufaro Sports Stadium in Harare. The first

independence celebrations were held in 1980 at the Zimbabwe Grounds. At these

celebrations doves are released to symbolize peace and fighter jets fly over and the

national anthem is sung. The flame of independence is lit by the president after

parades by the presidential family and members of the armed forces of Zimbabwe.

The president also gives a speech to the people of Zimbabwe which is televised for

those unable to attend the stadium.

As we can see, the countries like Zimbabwe and South Africa have problems cultural

and politic identity because of the colonialism in past centuries. People have cultural

dilemmas between each other in these multicultural countries.

II) Related Countries

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South Africa: This is a country that has been colonized by the United Kingdom and

the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Today, as it is already mentioned in the background

information, this country has a cosmopolite population containing diverse people from

different cultures and races.

Zimbabwe: This is also a country colonized by the United Kingdom.

III) Possible Solutions

UN, Related Countries and other Developed Countries having a relation with these

Southern African countries should seek to move beyond static understanding of

culture and the politics of identity by exploring and shedding new light on how the

discourses and practices of counter-narratives and alternative stories might transform

the dominant and exclusionary practices of the related countries’ governments’

official historiography on culture. Projects should be made on this issue that the

results will be significant in the sense that there will add a fresh dimension of looking

process in postcolonial societies undergoing change. In general the dissertation will

make a contribution to the understanding of the politics of education, culture and

identity in South Africa.

For the awareness of this issue in the international community especially in Southern

African States, governments should cooperate with NGO’s (Non Governmental

Organizations) should cooperate.

IV) UN Involvement

The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has

been working on this issue to protect these cultures in Southern African countries.

V) Useful Links

• UNESCO – www.unesco.org

• Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia – www.wikipedia.org

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• South Africa Ministry of Foreign Affairs – www.dfa.gov.za

• www.southafrica.info - A website where you can find information about

South African Culture

• CIA World Fact book – www.cia.gov/library/publications/the -world-

factbook/

• www.bbc.co.uk

• www.nytimes.com (current news about the situation can be found in

both of this sites)

VI) Works Cited/Bibliography

• Culture of South Africa - Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_South_Africa

• History of South Africa – Colonization of South Africa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Africa

• CIA World Fact Book

www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

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Forum: Cultural Committee

Question: Promoting awareness over the modern cultural dilemmas caused by

colonialism in ties to the situation in South Africa and other regions of Africa such as

Zimbabwe.

Introduction Starting from the 15th century, the Kingdoms of the Old World, namely Europe saw

great expansion. After the discovery of the compass the sailors sailed across the

oceans to find alternative trade routes which would ensure the flow of cheaper raw

materials. In a short time, they have discovered “new” continents; primarily America

since Europeans have discovered them very “new”, these continents were “new”

according to their perspective yet they were not aware of the fact that these lands

had already housed millions of inhabitants. According to the inhabitants Europeans

were the “ new” ones.

In most cases, neither the Europeans who have just discovered the place nor the

inhabitants could get along well. The “new people” were there to make them work in

mines, burn furnaces; literally they were there to enslave them. Inhabitants on the

other hand, were introduced to a brand new culture, a culture Europeans perceived

as modern. The slaves were forced to learn new languages as well as they were

forced to dress in so called “modern clothes”. Assimilation is happening in every

single branch of their culture. The enslavement; however, did not last long.

Today, nations that used to be colonies are instable since they found themselves in a

new world order after the colonists left. No longer were the tribe leaders the political

power. Additionally, there was this new system called “democracy” Weapons were

deadlier than bows and arrows. This misinterpretation of western culture resulted with

wars. The war was their first culture clash. This culture clash resulted in poverty,

extremely high death rates and hunger. This misinterpretation of western culture is

causing more human rights violations, andmore prostitution than there would

possible be if they had preserved their own morals and culture.

The dilemma in this situation is based on the question whether the western culture-

or the culture that had been imported to these nations by colonists- makes their world

a better place or not? For sure, their own culture is more accommodating to their

21    

lifestyle yet, can the inevitable inclusion of foreign cultures be altered and suited in

something of their own? Would this be the best solution?

What is worse is that most of the people are unaware of this situation. In this forum,

we will discuss the ways of raising public awareness about this predicament, and

perhaps by increasing awareness these questions would be answered.

Definitions of key terms: Colonialism: Exploitation by a stronger country of weaker

one; the use of the weaker

country’s resources to strengthen and enrich the stronger country.

Neocolonialism: Domination of a small or weak country by a large og strong one

without the assumption of direct government.

Decolonization: The action of changing from colonial to independent status. Post colonialism: A term used to describe the study of cultures who have emerged

from colonial rule and who are undergoing the process of decolonization

Background Information about Africa

Africa is the world’s second largest and second most populated continent. The

continent shares borders with Mediterranean Sea to the North, Indian Ocean to the

southeast, and Atlantic Ocean to the West, Suez Canal and Red Sea to the

northeast. Africa is made up of 53 countries including Madagascar and various island

groups.

In the late 19th century Africa was invaded by the dominant European Empires. In

the quest to find more raw resources, and alternative trade routes to eliminate high

taxes taken during the journey, some brave Europeans took the courage and sailed

to the Ocean. Spanish and Portuguese were the first ones to find alternative routes.

Soon after, the colonization of the new-found-lands started. The Europeans landed

with their guns and built villages. This especially happened in Africa where resources

were abundant.

They have created various numbers of colonies. The natives were forced to

interiorize the language of the Europeans and other cultural aspects of the

Europeans. Most of them were moved away from their villages to the bigger cities. As

a result of Europeans’ integration movement, many of the people became more

European than African. However, the culture has to stay in a region to be permanent.

For example, US, a former British colony has incorporated the European culture that

best fits the people living in the region. They, however, did not take natives in

account. The case with Africa is the same; nations ignored the culture of the tribes

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living in Africa, and tried to force the culture and the lifestyle of the Europeans,

because they thought that it would be more appropriate and modern. However, this

started the independence movements in these colonial states after World War II. As a

consequence of the rebellion of the African States, European Powers were

weakened. The firs country which gained its independence was Libya. Libya got its

independence in 1951. Secondly, Tunisia and Morocco won their independence from

France. Most of the states became independent during the next decade.

Although most of the independence movements happened peacefully, some

countries such as Algeria went through a lot of difficulties for the sake of winning their

independence. South Africa was one of the 1st African countries who have attained

their independence; however, it remained under the rule of its “white settler

population.”

General Overview The question of raising awareness on such a topic would first require substantial

amount of information. What are the common problems, how did the culture mix

benefit the locals and how does it harm them?

Africa was, unstable for centuries and it is still very unbalanced. When nations gained

their independence, the shift from “white people” to natives was the biggest problem.

Since there were many tribes in the continent, living closely together, the idea of a

nation lead by a parliament or a president was an opportunity to clash the others.

When a tribe was a minority in one region, the other major tribe would take control of

the government and massacre the minority. This has happened quite a lot of times in

the continent and perhaps the most famous one of these is the conflict in Rwanda.

Another point the European culture is dominant is the languages. Since the

colonization, Europeans forced their language to be taught at schools and forced the

natives to learn it for proper communication. This went on for many years until it to a

came a point where more than half of the generation was speaking in a European

language rather than their own native language. With thousands of different

languages, African continent has very valuable languages that are now in the verge

of being forgotten. The language assimilation can be seen even in the names of the

countries such as Cote D’Ivore which used to be a Belgian/French colony.

The new generations in these countries are encountering a dilemma. They have their

traditional culture in front of them, and also the culture that Europeans brought in to

their nations. In other words, they are in between the two cultures that they were

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raised in. They were in a situation in which they had to embed their culture with the

modern day culture. UN and NGOs has to ensure that the African culture does not

get lost.

The economical, political instability, lack of access to safe drinking water, lack of

proper education are only few of the problems African countries are facing today, and

one may easily trace back the history to find out that the balance of powers in Africa

that caused these effects were after colonies became independent. When their

masters with a certain system left, they were left in the very dilemma that nations and

people of Africa is facing today.

It should be taken into account that Africa includes thousands of different cultures,

each with their own traditions, languages and even lifestyles. However, the inclusion

of the modern culture, or the global culture that can be called “cultural colonialism” is

threatening these cultures, that have already blended in with the culture that is

already present in that particular region. Now only a very few wears their traditional

clothes, most of the Africans are now wearing jeans if they can afford it, or any

fabricated clothing that is available to the rest of the world as well. This accelerates

the process of cultural identity loss in the African continent.

The problem with the African cultures is that the population that knows the culture

and is a part of it is significantly lower than other cultures in the world. This makes it

very hard to trace, and protect the culture itself.

People do learn about the situation in Africa from the news, perhaps not as clear as

the news from USA or Europe, but some of the events happening in Africa are on the

news. However, there are many, many things that get left out for the sake of more

popular news. People should be informed about the culture of African continent at its

full diversity, and they should know what they can help to protect this

unique but fragile mosaic of culture.

Related Countries Zimbabwe Currently, Zimbabwe is struggling with Cholera. Also it is facing economic, political

and humanitarian crisis. The political, economical, and humanitarian results of

cholera epidemic on Zimbabwean children as follows:

Lack of education Lack of health care Increase in hunger

Increase in morbidity and mortality

Zimbabwe’s problem can only be solved if the ongoing inflation, lack of willingness to

form a stable government, deteriorating, physical infrastructure; raising malnutrition

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and the terrible pandemic viruses HIV and AIDS are taken seriously and all the

necessary corrections are made. UNICEF has continued to respond to the

humanitarian requirements of powerless Zimbabweans with the help of WHO and

other related UN agencies and non- governmental organizations.( NGO). UNICEF

immediately needs $ 8,000,000 in order to address the needs of children.

It can be said that Zimbabwe’s problems arise from clash of cultures. The nation that

had no prior experience on how a government should be run, how economies should

be managed due to their colonial history will have to face economical difficulties.

Rwanda Rwanda has suffered a civil war, where millions of people were massacred by the

members of the tribe that has the majority. Rwanda is relatively stable at the moment;

however the cultural conflicts between two tribes still continue. The conflict in

Rwanda clearly demonstrates the political aspect of the differences and the dilemma

Africa is facing. The majority has misinterpreted the democracy which resulted in the

massacre of millions.

Sudan Sudan is a nation that faces conflict as well. The situation in Darfur is more than

critical and yet the instability due to the lack of education and the unawareness of the

people in the nation is one of the causes. Millions of people today in Darfur region

suffers from the side effects or direct effects of the conflict in that particular area.

UN Involvement There have been no previous resolutions published on this topic. However, UN

Organizations such as UNICEF, UNESCO are actively working in the African

continent to preserve these cultures. However, there are no actions from UN to raise

public awareness about the situation in Africa in regards to their political and cultural

situation; therefore UN is not active in the field of raising awareness and perhaps this

dilemma could only be overcome by the involvement of the UN.

Possible Solutions Possible solutions to raise awareness in about the cultural situation in Africa might be

solved according to the following principles:

1. Raising awareness in Africa about African cultures and emphasizing the

importance of their own culture compared to other cultures that were imported or are

being imported right now could be a possible solution.This would include adding

items into the curriculum, but one must be very careful to set this up carefully to allow

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all people, most especially elders with most cultural knowledge is reached.

2. Raising awareness the vulnerability of the culture present in the area. This

would allow people to be more careful about their culture.

3. Collectinginformationaboutcultures,creatingbooklets,brochures,and selling them all

over the world, and with the income, more projects might be funded.

4. Creating promotional short films reflecting the situation in the region, and how

cultures are being affected by them

5. Increasing coverage in the TV channels, demanding more frequent and larger

space from the newspaper to reach out for masses.

6. Holding conferences which will specifically focus on the situation in African

countries each year.

Useful Links http://www.globalissues.org/article/84/conflicts-in-africa-introduction

http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft8c6009jk&chunk.id=d0e3814&toc.

depth=1&toc .id=&brand=ucpress

www.worldnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa

http://www.blackstate.com/africaonthebrink.html

http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/images/colonialism1914.jpg

http://www.un.org/en/humanitarian/